There are presently many different types of plate and fixture systems for securing bones so that the secured bones may fuse or heal. As used herein, the term bone may refer to a bone or a portion of a bone. One application for plate and fixture systems is in the field of cardiovascular surgery, where access to a patient's heart may be obtained by cutting the sternum of the patient longitudinally from the manubrium through the xiphoid process. Cutting the sternum longitudinally creates halves of the sternum that may be separated to provide access to the chest cavity. After the patient's heart is operated upon, the sternal halves are brought back together and secured to one another. One approach for securing the sternal halves involves looping a metal wire around the sternal halves and twisting ends of the wire to secure the wire in tight engagement extending about the cut sternum bone halves. This process is repeated at several longitudinally spaced positions along the cut sternum in order to restrict separation and shifting of the sternal halves post-surgery. However, the twisted wires may loosen over time and permit relative movement of the sternal halves which adversely affects post-operative fusion of the sternal halves.